Build Your Author Platform

The next course begins January 2015. To be the first to know about WeGrowMedia courses, please sign up here:

You are a writer who wants to connect with readers – people who will truly love your work. You want your days to be spent crafting your books, and connecting with those who love the same stories and worldview that you do.

Right?

Spend 8 weeks with me and learn how to develop your roadmap to engage with readers and ensure your writing finds an audience.

Let me guess: you are overwhelmed with too much to do to not just finish your writing, but to ensure it finds an audience. You have read hundreds of articles, tried dozens of things, and find that you are lost in the woods; stuck on a hamster wheel without any real progress. This is what so many writers tell me.

Perhaps these are some of the challenges standing in your way:

You are overwhelmed by an unending list of to-dos, and yet nothing feels like an organized plan.

You want to be defined by your writing, not become a marketer who is constantly promoting their own work.

You have tried to connect with readers online and off, but can’t see to gain momentum.

You feel alone in this process.

Stop fighting for social media “followers” and wasting your time on the wrong things. Instead, start connecting with readers – people who will truly appreciate and support your work.

WHAT AUTHORS HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THIS COURSE

“Dan provided a framework and roadmap to help me move beyond my inaction and panic, to develop my platform and grow my readership. By breaking the work down into chunks, it became manageable instead of insurmountable. What I gained was a sense of control, and I no longer felt overwhelmed.”

OUTLINE OF EACH SESSION

The eight weeks are broken out into four sessions, each with a learning week, and an implementation week.

SESSION 1: DEVELOP YOUR VOICE
Want to connect with readers? You have to connect with their hearts, not just their minds. The best way to do this is to engage with them in meaningful – not promotional – ways. This is about sharing YOUR story, your reason for creating. This is the stuff you feel in your heart – in your gut – that feels more natural than anything.

This also differentiates you from every other author out there? We have all heard the statistics about how many new books are published each year, and been overwhelmed scrolling through millions of books on Amazon or browsing through Barnes & Noble. So we focus first on the one thing that no one can replicate: you and your work.

SESSION 2: FIND YOUR IDEAL READERS
Stop trying to reach anyone who will listen (but has no interest in your writing), and find that core group of people desperate to connect with someone like yourself. Here you are not promoting, but rather, aligning with the folks who care deeply about the same things you do.

If you have something to say in your work, but feel as though you are shouting at the wind, then you need to connect with the RIGHT people. Every ounce of energy you focus on connecting with the RIGHT person is worth much more than anything you spend trying to connect with the wrong audience – those who will NEVER feel engaged with your work.

SESSION 3: CREATE MOMENTS OF CONNECTION
Experiences and moments are what make up the important parts of our lives. Here, we setup your connection points, which may include: websites, social media, newsletters, blogs, your presence at online retailers, as well as elsewhere online and off. I know there is a lot of overwhelm surrounding this, so we work through a simplified framework of doing less, not more, and focusing only on the actions that bring the most value.

And we go a step further, and focus on how to create meaningful moments with your ideal readers across these channels. The world is not asking for yet another Tweet, but they are desperately waiting for a moment that makes them feel understood and ties into what they love most. Oh, and yes, these moments tend to lead to word of mouth marketing, awareness, and sales.

SESSION 4: CONSTRUCT YOUR MARKETING PLAN
Feel like you have a laundry list of things you COULD be doing to get your work out there? Here we get strategic and lay out a clear plan for doing so. This is a structured timeline that takes into account that focuses only on what you SHOULD do. This can cover developing your readership from scratch, before your book is published, and can work right up through a full-on book launch.

WHAT AUTHORS HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THIS COURSE

“Dan is the best kind of guide in that he helped me find one simple thing: how to be me. Whether I’m tweeting, speaking or posting, I now know why I’m doing it. More importantly, I also decided what I’m not doing. And that leaves more time for writing.”

If any of this resonates with you, then join me for 8 weeks to develop your roadmap to truly identify who your ideal readers are, begin connecting with them in ways that are meaningful, and help ensure your writing finds an audience. An overview of what you get in the course:

8-Week online course with Dan Blank (Sept 8 – Oct 31, 2014)

4 group Q&A calls

24/7 community access to ask questions and brainstorm

Detailed feedback on homework assignments

All for one price: $399

The next course begins January 2015. To be the first to know about WeGrowMedia courses, please sign up here:

I have taught dozens of online courses, and what I LOVE about them is that they work best for busy folks. Everything happens online or via phone, meaning that if you have a job, a family, a hectic schedule, that this is likely the best way for you to truly work with a group of other writers (and myself) to get yourself on track.

HOW DOES THIS WHOLE THING WORK?

This course has been tested and honed for years, constantly being updated, with hundreds of writers’ experiences helping to ensure it is based in real-world action, not theory.

A key piece you are getting in this course is collaboration with myself and writers – all focused on creating momentum for you and growing your audience. We dig into the deep stuff, and focus intensely on your personal goals and challenges.

Worried about how this all works on a technical level? All that you need is a web browser and a phone to fully engage with every element of the course. Let’s go through it step by step:

You will be given access to a private online classroom where you will access course materials. Nothing fancy here, you access it entirely via your web browser.

You are given a new PDF workbook every 2 weeks. This covers the 4 sessions in the course. It includes instruction by me, and walks you through key strategies and questions.

For each of the 4 sessions, you submit homework to me and I provide detailed feedback to focus on your biggest opportunities and challenges. You may also receive feedback and ideas from other writers in the course – a HUGE benefit to you.

We will have group conference calls via phone every 2 weeks. Everything is recorded, so if you miss a call, you can listen back to it later.

You will have 24/7 access to a group forum where you can ask questions or brainstorm ideas.

WHAT AUTHORS HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THIS COURSE

“Dan isn’t about shortcuts, but connecting with readers in a deeper way. This is what I wanted as a writer. I wanted to find my true, authentic audience. I wanted to continue to make a difference in the lives of my readers. He helped me stay on the right path. Dan is the real deal, he cares.”

WHY WORK WITH ME?

Well, there are my professional credentials:

I have worked with hundreds of authors, from bestsellers to those writing their first book, to everyone in between. My days are spent in the trenches with writers – none of this is theory to me – it is always framed in the everyday reality of what truly works for connecting writers to readers.

I have worked with some of the biggest names in publishing; folks such as Random House, Abrams Books, Workman Publishing, Writers House, The Kenyon Review, and many others.

Oh, and there’s the technical stuff: that I have helped launch hundreds of blogs, I’ve built lots of websites, and consulted on social media strategy with huge publishers & organizations that serve writers. Plus, I have run my own company for years, meaning that I have had to become the master of hundreds of tiny technical details for “getting out there.”

I have spoken at some of the biggest publishing conferences out there, including BookExpo, Digital Book World, AWP, Romance Writers of America, Thrillerfest, and many others.

The core of what I do is help writers develop their skills – to help instruct and truly be there to help you work through challenges. My goal is not to “bestow information” to you – there’s plenty of that out there. My methodology is to work WITH you to really figure out the hard stuff.

But I think what is equally important is that my days are spent with writers, and my entire life has been spent surrounded by creators hoping to make their mark. As for myself, I have been an artist, a poet, a musician, a paper sculptor, a writer, a publisher, a photographer, a teacher, a radio DJ, a cartoonist, and an entrepreneur. You can read my full bio here.

WHAT AUTHORS HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THIS COURSE

“Dan not only helps you find out who you are as an author, but who your readers are and how to make that special, magic connection.”

“Dan guided me to take the steps that I needed to find my authentic voice as a writer, speaker, and to help me develop an online presence. I appreciated the depth of his knowledge, the kindness of his guidance, and the solid process in which to follow. I now recommend Dan to every writer that I meet.”

“I’ve taken two courses and one workshop with Dan. He knows and cares about the inner needs of the writer, and has a broad and up-to-date understanding of the rapidly changing publishing industry. I rely on him to help me navigate the whitewater of authorship.”